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Lasseter liked it better than his Oscars; Carolla thought the only reason he got one was because Leno cancelled Photo by Mark Vaughn

Animation icon John Lasseter and media impresario Adam Carolla were honored last night for their collective car enthusiasm with awards at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Lasseter is, of course, the creative force behind the Cars franchise at Pixar and the guiding light for Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure. Having brought to life an entire universe populated by cars and cars alone, Lasseter seemed a well-deserved honoree. Anyone who has watched Cars or Cars 2 and studied the detail of each and every scene can see the dedication and enthusiasm Lasseter put into those two movies.

“I always felt I wanted to create a film that had cars because I love cars,” Lasseter said upon accepting the giant steering-wheel-mounted Automotive Visionary Award. “But I wanted to make a car film that would be respected by true car enthusiasts, too.”

The crowd of about 300 cheered approvingly.

When Lasseter got his award he said, “I have two Oscars but that's much more bitchin'.”

Carolla, who took the opportunity to hit up Lasseter for a voiceover role in Cars 3, talked about how wonderful Pixar seemed when he visited three years ago.

“If you go there you realize why the terrorists hate us so much. People were there on their day off. People who work at tuna canneries don't show up on their day off.”

Carolla got an Automotive Enthusiast Award.

“I'm so flattered that Leno cancelled,” he said. Then hit up Lasseter again for the VO work.

“Maybe just an El Camino or something, come on!”

Next up at the Petersen is a tribute to Trans-Am hero George Follmer, featuring the man himself and many of the cars he raced. That will be Thursday Nov. 8. For tickets, see Petersen.org or call 323 964-6325.

Mark Vaughn
- After slumming in Europe five years covering F1 etc. Mark Vaughn interviewed with Autoweek at the 1989 Frankfurt motor show has been with us ever since because no one else will take him. Anyone?
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